As rare as it is important, an original copy of the Magna Carta is up for sale. And if you have to ask how much, there’s a good chance it’s beyond your spending budget.

But then, very few in the world could acquire such a historical treasure even if they had the money.

When created, the 13 century document dictated the rights of people while curbing the power of the king. As time went on, it became a source used to help create other historical documents of rights and liberty.

The Magna Carta is 710 years old and has been described, among many things, as an ancestor to the U.S. Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights.

Only 17 original copies are known to have survived. The one to be auctioned at Sotheby’s on December 18th and will be sold to the highest bidder.

Interestingly, it’s just one of two copies held outside of Britain.

This particular copy was purchased by the Perot Foundation back in 1982 for only $1.5 million.

For approximately five centuries before that, the document belonged to the wealthy English Brudenell family of Deene Park in Northhampshire.

In today’s market, the Magna Carta original copy is expected to sell for up to $30 million. The proceeds are said to be targeted for charity.

The size and importance of the Magna Carta

The Magna Carta isn’t very large, about 14 inches wide by 16 inches high with 2,500 Latin words in 68 lines of text. But it does pack powerful words.

Just one clear example of the importance of the Magna Carta heritage brought to the U.S. can bee seen by comparing its fifth amendment of the Bill of Rights:

No person shall…be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law

To that of the Magna Carta, stating:

No freeman shall be taken, imprisoned,…or in any other way destroyed…except by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to none will we deny or delay, right or justice.

Can it get any better than that?

HuntTreasure Editor’s update: Magna Carta is sold for $23.1 million

The original copy of the Magna Carta was sold in the Sotheby’s auction for $23.1 million and was purchased by David Rubenstein, a lawyer and founder of The Carlyle Group.

For a short news account of the auction, including a news video, read: Magna Carta Copy: Going Once… Going Twice… Gone.

Magna Carta resource sites

For more information regarding the Magna Carta, check the following:

• The Text of the Magna Carta
• The Avalong Project at Yale Law School
• British Library Treasures in full: Magna Carta
• Featured Document: The Magna Carta (inludes image of the Magna Carta for auction)